Drifter
by Kentucky
Summary: I'm a drifter, after being dragged away from home and placed in unfamiliar territory. I wouldn't be vulnerable this time if no-one knew me. I would just have to be careful to not make any foolish mistakes...even if they were kind of tempting. *All human, college sort of thing. I know it's overdone, but take a quick peek, you may like it. Rated M for later sauciness*
1. Removed

**Soooo...I know the highschool/college thing is waaaaay overdone, but some of the others out there bug me because I don't think they are realistic enough. So I'm giving it a shot, hopefully it won't be too crappy. There will be some Rated M later on because I love a bit of sauciness. A smidge of Clace of course ;). Ps: I'm from England, so this is the English version of how things go, and if some of the slang I use you don't know, just ask and I'll translate, or will :3  
Unfortunately for me, Cassandra Clare owns Jace and the rest of the characters and original plot, all that is mine is this version of the story.**

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The long haul drive had almost been unbearable. My back ached from being in the same position for so long. The six-hour drive from London to Manchester had been difficult to endure. Every mile we had travelled I felt even more lonely, not that I could ever really admit that out loud. I was speeding away from my old, comfortable enough life; and been shoved into this unfamiliar new one.

I was determined to have my guard up at this new college. No-one would get to me. At least with the new move, there wouldn't be anyone to know about my baggage; I wouldn't be vulnerable. Mother was aware that this was the only reason why I hadn't completely lost my temper when she announced we would be moving to Manchester just so she could have a relationship with her partner Luke.

I grabbed the only box I had brought with me in Luke's truck, it was full of art supplies and my sketchbooks. The rest of my belongings had been pre-packed and sent here with the moving truck. Shuffling into the house I wandered around looking for my mother, and found her in the kitchen, her hands clasped around Luke's, a hundred watt smile on her face. Although I was mad she had made us move here to live with Luke, it was hard to dislike her when she looked so happy. Especially when it had been so long since she had smiled like that.

Turning towards me, she said, "Since Jonathan is at university, other than Luke's room and the library, you have first choice on whichever room you want. Though you may find one better suited to your tastes."

As I mumbled my thanks she gave me a small smile of encouragement, then switched her attention back to Luke. Her reminding me of Jonathan only made me really consider how much I missed him. He had started at Birmingham University this year, but had moved into his university halls, so completely managed to avoid the hassle of moving up to Manchester will us. It was strange thinking that the next time I would see him would be around Christmas time. The traitor, leaving me to handle the loved-up couple by myself. I sighed. It was going to be tough not having him here to listen when I presented him with my never ending list of problems.  
Avoiding Luke's room, I took a peek into the library, which was huge, probably bigger than all the other rooms in the house. I did love books and all, but sheesh, he had hundreds of them; he could not have seriously read them all, that would take years. Shutting the door behind me I went on the hunt for the best room.

Stepping into the room the furthest down the corridor from Luke's - and now my mother's - bedroom, my breath was taken away, the double bed in the centre of the room was draped in red bed sheets, accentuated by the mahogany furniture. The September sunlight sifted through the blood red curtains, the shaft of light coming through illuminated the flecks of dust that floated around the room. It was a very sophisticated room, but in a word 'sexy'. The colours of the furniture combined with the red of the bed sheets and curtains made it look so much cooler than I had thought it would ever be.

Placing the box with my art supplies on the drawers, I picked my sketchbook and pencil out. Moving aside the plush curtains , I gazed out at the phenomenal view. The house was a renovated farmhouse, so we were surrounded by a small amount of green countryside, not exactly my usual sort of scene, I enjoyed the inner city, but the view was still pretty fantastic. Perching on the window ledge I began to draw, letting all the worry and tension flow out of me as I tried to capture the scene on paper. One of the best things about drawing was that it let me block out all the crappy things in my head that I wanted to ignore. I didn't have to think about tomorrow, starting at Idris Sixth Form, I didn't have to contemplate not fitting in with people who would most like already have established friendship groups, and I most definitely wanted to ignore the horrendous uniform I was going to have to wear. I mean, a tie? Really?

Around four hours later I had done a rough outline of the landscape view from my window and unpacked the majority of my belongings into my new room. I hadn't had too much to begin with back when we lived in London and it seemed I had even less once I had put everything in it's designated place in my new spacious room.  
Switching on the flat screen tv opposite my bed - noting the tv was not so subtle bribery from my mother to be nice - I amused myself watching re-runs of the _Big Bang Theory_, consoling myself that if even _Sheldon_ can get friends, then I could aswell.

It was around 11pm when I finally switched off the television, not wanting to be too tired for tomorrow, knowing that looking like a zombie because I was exhausted wouldn't really improve my day.

I was dreading tomorrow. Dreading it.

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**Rate and Review pleeeease darlings.  
xo**


	2. Begin

**This is my first fanfiction, so when I got my first follower (Vikinggirl1218) I was pretty giddy about it. :3 Not all updates will be weekly, because I have college and exams and revision, which is just the bane of my existence -_- anywayyyyy...here you go...**

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A shrill, piercing noise woke me at 7:30am. Eurgh, I wasn't ready for this, I just wanted sleep. I blamed the bed sheets for being ridiculously comfortable. I decided I'd just sleep for another 30 seconds...just...another 30 seconds.

Mother burst into my room, attempting to look stern in her teddy bear pyjamas. If I wasn't so dead beat, I would have laughed.

"Chop chop! It is quarter to eight, you have forty-five minutes until we set off; first day and all." Her eyebrows knitted together, obviously she was trying to appear authoritative, though a pug dog would have more success at that.

"It's been ten seconds since I switched off my alarm, just another twenty? Pleeeeease." I whined from where I had hidden my head beneath the pillow.

Apparently, I wasn't going to get any more sleep because faster than I could say 'Idris Sixth From' my quilt and pillow were ripped from me, leaving me freezing and bare, trying to retain some of my warmth I curled up into a ball.

"For the love of humanity Clarissa, put some clothes on! Your toast will be ready in five minutes and I expect you downstairs and dressed." With an exaggerated sigh she turned around and walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Stretching my legs, I stood up. Picking out some matching underwear because there was just something about wearing it, despite the fact that you were the only one who knew about it, you still felt sexier. I wanted to feel confident today, needed to look sure of myself, so matching underwear was a must. However a killer of that confidence was the mandatory uniform at the sixth form. The fitted blazer was grey, with a matching grey pencil skirt that was supposed to be pulled up to the waist like Simon Cowell's pants. The over-the-knee socks were the same shade of grey, in fact, the only pieces of the uniform that were not grey was the white blouse and navy tie. How dull. This place was going to suck out what was left of my soul.

Breakfast was a painful event. The toast that was left for me I had to force down. I was getting pretty nervous. Gulping down my orange juice, I went back upstairs to attempt to tame the wild red curls on the top of my head. The taming didn't exactly go well, but they were under more control than they were earlier. I swiped mascara across my eyelashes, deciding that I passed for decent when I looked in the mirror.

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About half an hour later, Luke's truck pulled up outside the sixth form main building.

"You'll be fine dear." My mother reassured me, or at least she tried to.

Giving her my best sarcastic sneer, I said, "Yeah, I'll be the only one that doesn't fit into their friendship groups,the odd one out with the London accent. It'll be perfect. Thank you for this great opportunity."

Not wanting to see her expression or hear her reply, I shoved open the truck door, not caring if the hinges snapped when I slammed it shut, and walked up to the front entrance, hoping to find the main office.

There was a middle-aged blonde receptionist sat behind the front office desk. There was a cluster of students facing away from it, talking loudly and laughing. Shifting my gaze back from them to the receptionist, she was leaning towards me, sliding back the clear glass window pane that separated us.

"Anything that I can help you with dear?" She asked me, smiling. It was odd that she called me 'dear' but hey, she could be the only person who was nice to me here, so I smiled back.

"I'm Clarissa Fray, the letter I received said that on my first day I was to come to the main office and get information on my form and timetable?"

Muttering my name repeatedly to herself she flicked through a hefty looking stack of coloured papers. She picked out a green sheet and waved it in the air, obviously pleased with herself. She took a quick glance at it then passed it to me.

"You're in group 12F Miss Fray, on a Monday you have Form, a half hour period where some notices and such will be read out by your Form Tutor. If you turn over that green sheet your lesson timetable is on the back."

Giving me another small smile, she narrowed her eyes at the cluster of students that were still chattering a few yards from the office. She spoke loudly, "Mr Bane, you're up. Make sure you don't cut corners on the tour either, because I'll know about it."

Before I could even turn to check which of the people she was talking, a tall asian with cat-like eyes stood next to me, with wait...was that glitter in his hair? I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the uniform description. His hair wasn't the only different thing about him either, he had blue eyeliner on, the same colour as his tie, and navy Converse on too. How did one person get away with breaking so many uniform rules? Or maybe the teachers just hadn't spotted him yet.

"I'm Magnus. I'm to give you a quick tour and rough guidelines of the way everything works here and whatnot." He gestured to some double doors further down the corridor.

"This is the cafeteria," he sat down at one of the tables, staring pointedly at the opposite seat for me to sit down,"the food is pretty disgusting, so everyone usually goes out to different food places for lunch. It gets pretty packed pretty quickly, so if you want a seat, you'll have to rush out of lesson. This is trade secrets mind you, so don't be telling everyone." He winked.

"Trade secrets?" I asked him, confused by what he meant.

"I'm in the upper sixth. Year 13. I learnt the hard way about how brutal it gets when you want a seat. Bitch fights break out when chairs are taken, it gets pretty extreme. Not that I have ever been in several bitch fights myself." He smirked, obviously lying on that last part.

"Anyway," he questioned, "where's your accent from?"

He'd already noticed I wasn't from around here and I was different. Great.

"London. My mother moved up here for her partner and this is the closest college."

He nodded in understanding. "Well as you'll find out, the vast majority of us come from the main school so already know each other, it's rare there is ever a new face. You shouldn't find it too difficult to fit in though."

Looking around me I saw he was right, people with coloured sheets like me were chatting happily to each other, obviously familiar.

I sighed. Well this was going to be fun.

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**I know, I know, there's no Jace yet, but there will be. And it will be delicious ;)**  
**Reviewwww 3**


	3. Friends?

**To Physalie00, my first reviewer, thankoooo. it made me happy :3 and for that you may have a smidge of Jace in this chapter XD oh, and pre-apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes because can't see anything on this damn phone when typing -.-**

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Form was uneventful, I just about managed to make it on time, using the map that was on the coloured sheet, I sat awkwardly next to a dark-skinned girl, the only seat left in the room. She looked average enough, glasses, thick curly brown hair tied up in a bobble. She looked like one of the nerds, as did the next to her. If he wasn't so pale and his hair lighter, he could have been her twin. He had shaggy brown hair, his fringe falling into his eyes, which were also shielded with glasses.

The form tutor handed out diaries to write down the homework and passed out other sheets like the standard uniform rules (though by what I'd already seen, no-one abided by them) and the guidelines for what the sixth form expected of us. I flipped over my green sheet, glancing over my timetable. Apparently this form lesson would be an hour long, because there was a lot more than usual to go over, and the teachers wanted us to introduce ourselves to each other. We had to stand up and say our names, and an interesting fact about ourselves. This was ridiculous.

The two nerdy looking people sat to my right introduced themselves. The guy, he said his name was Simon, was really tall, then stated the obvious by using that as his 'fact about himself'. The girl stood, looking nervous and stated her name was Maia, and she liked to draw.

My turn.

I stood up, avoiding the looks from everyone in the room, and looked at the teacher instead.

"I'm Clary," making it clear I didn't like my full name,"and this is my natural hair colour." The amount of times I was asked by strangers in London how I got my hair to this colour was irritating, I couldn't be bothered dealing with that now.

The girl, Maia, turned towards me, looking over my timetable.

"We have the same art class, though from what I've heard the teacher is said to be awful, especially to us lower sixth but you avoid talking to her, you can do your own ideas."

She seemed friendly, a decent person, so I smiled and asked her if she knew how to get to the room because I had no idea where I was going at all.

"Yeah I can guide you there, but didn't your tour guide show you where all your subjects were located?"

"Nope." I said, letting my irritation with the Magnus guy seep through, I had no idea where anything but the cafeteria was.

She looked at me with pity, annoying me slightly but I needed friends here.

"You probably got lumped with one of the douchebags of Year 13, the kind that doesn't care about the rules, when we were all in highschool, when they were Year 11's and us Year 10's, they were labelled at the 'Tyrants' by the staff because the vast majority were little shits." She snickered. Quite the gossip for someone so unassuming.

After art, which had been barely tolerable, the art teacher was the most annoying person I'd ever known. She wore a skirt that looked like curtains from the 60's. She'd heavily insinuated that if we didn't do what she liked in our projects and follow her advice to the letter then she would mark us down. What the hell? I really wasn't going to enjoy this place.

Apparently according to Maia we had a break now, I stood awkwardly at the end of art, not knowing what to do with myself, I had no-one to sit with.

Maia turned around, 'Come on then, standing there like a lost puppy, you can sit with us. Simon thought you were okay, as do I. But it's up to you I suppose."

I genuinely smiled. At least one thing worked out right about this awful day. I was thinking I'd have to just go out at dinner and hide by myself and spend the next two years avoiding the cafeteria at breaks and dinners.

While walking to the cafeteria, Maia asked me about my accent and why I had moved here, questioned me if I had any siblings and if they were at the sixth form too, when she found out that my only brother was at university, she immediately delved into her dreams of going to Durham uni.

The cafeteria was packed. How did they expect so many people to fit in a small place? I sat down with Maia at the table with her group, to say both Maia and Simon were a little on the geeky side, the others weren't so much. Jordan was built, pretty attractive, medium length hair that complimented his deep eyes. Aline was pretty too, not in a forward obvious way, but when you actually looked at her, I was surprised she didn't have more male attention. Eric was average looking, some of the stuff he said was a little weird, long exaggerated words and I'm pretty sure something about loins...

However when I turned my head, I saw something that surprised me more that Eric throwing the word 'loins' into casual conversation.

He was gorgeous. By far, the best looking guy I'd ever seen, even more than the few model guys around London. His golden hair curled around his face, framing it, his fringe swept back so it wouldn't get in his face. Where the sun hit it, it looked like it shone. His face was angular, with a strong jaw and cheekbones. His tie was loose, a few buttons undone on his shirt, showing more of the tanned skin on his chest. But his eyes were the strangest thing, they were almost the same golden colour as his hair. Were eyes like that even natural? He could have contacts in I suppose. I couldn't really tell from this distance, they could be a light hazel. I liked those eyes...and those same eyes were looking right at me.

Shit.

I tried to look away, trying to make it appear I had just been scanning everyone, not just staring at him. He'd caught me though, I could tell by the way he began to smirk before I turned away...Not that I thought that smirk was sexy in any way...but damn, it kind of was. Yet I'd known enough jackasses like that back in London to know that he probably had more notches on his bedpost than I had freckles...


	4. Embarrassment

**I'm so sorry that it has been a while, but between my January exams, my birthday, sorting my uni stuff out and my constant need for naps, I haven't had much spare time...****_however_**** to make it up to you this chapter shall be longer than the rest :3**

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**** The rest of the break and after my Religious Studies lesson, then later on, dinner, passed without many surprises, no more embarrassing moments because I had been caught staring at some pretty boy. In fact, there was there no sign of him. _Not _that I had been keeping an eye out for his ridiculously shiny hair.

Apparently I was all out of good karma though because the Hot Guy himself strolled into my Psychology lesson, so obviously full of himself, glancing round the classroom as if everyone and everything in it was beneath him. Not wanting to get caught staring at him _again, _I ducked my head down and tried to concentrate on the front of my AS textbook. It had a cartoon on the front of it, of a man labelled 'Stan Milgram' and a wire leading from a button in his hand, to another man who was being electrocuted. Was this supposed to be funny? Trying to appeal to students? Textbook authors these days.

The chair to my right was pulled back and the Source Of My Continual Humiliation sat down on it, stretching out his legs while unpacking what he needed for the lesson from out of his bag, slowly invading my half of the table with his crap.

After another grating experience of being called Clarissa and correcting yet another teacher that I go by Clary instead, Mrs Ant continued on through the register and revealed that Hot Guy's name was actually Jace Lightwood. Figures, attractive name, attractive guy. He couldn't be named something odd like Ernest or Herbert.

He shifted beside me to look at me, I could see him in my peripheral vision. Was he purposely trying to embarrass or antagonise me by sitting beside me because he had blatantly caught me staring at him this morning?

"So," he drawled, leaning in towards me, giving me a not-so-subtle view down the opening in his shirt to examine more of his built chest, "Do you always stare at people you don't know or am I just a special exception?"

Oh and _there's_ the arrogance.

I looked him directly in eyes, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere before that if you look someone in the eyes while lying through your teeth it make it less obvious.

"You had toothpaste on your face. I was merely wondering why no-one was bothering to tell you about it."

I then shifted my body around to face the front, effectively cutting off all conversation with Jace. I could accept that he was good-looking, hell, I could practically feel my oestrogen hormones thrumming in my veins craving some sort of physical contact with him, but the arrogance he exuded was more than off-putting.

For the rest of the lesson the teacher mainly rambled on about what we were going to be doing for the rest of the year, a few students were making notes on the outline of the AS course. I sat absentmindedly doodling random things at first, but as I slowly lost myself in the feeling of my pencil and hand gliding over the sketching paper, I seemed to lose control of what I was drawing and only when Jace began to lean closer being nosy, I finally snapped back to the present.

Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me. I quickly stashed to drawing into my bag, crossing my fingers in hope that he hadn't seen, or at least hadn't been able to work out what it was.

I shuffled away from him, "Is there a specific reason you keep invading my personal space?" Best defence is a good offence right?

He sat back in his chair, giving me room to breathe again, "What were you drawing?"

"None of your business."

"Were you drawing me?" Oh bollocks, did he see? I internally debated on telling him that yes, I accidentally drew the view that I'd had down your top, of your shirt open just enough to give me a fabulous view of your defined chest and muscular pectorals, and how I'm not sure if I'm angry at myself right now because I drew that, or because I really just wanted a better view. Dammit. Calming breaths. Calming breaths.

I snorted in a considerably unladylike fashion. "Your vanity is astounding. Why on earth would I draw you?"

"Because I'm obviously so aesthetically pleasing to women, including you."

I scoffed. He didn't even state it like a question, he automatically assumed he was God's gift to womankind.

"Er, no." This was a lie. I'd probably go home and dream about jumping his bones, but he didn't have to know that.

"Are you really sure about that?" What. The. Fuck. Jackass.

"You wish."

Leaning towards me again, he cocked his head to the side, looking at me in a weird way and whispered, "And if I do wish?"

Resisting the urge to punch him and wipe that condescending smirk off his face. I said with as much disgust and conviction as I could muster, "I would tell you where to go shove that wish."

"Oooh, sounds dirty, is that an offer Jolene?"

Wait...what? I tensed and tried to control the blush that was going to creep up onto my face. Hitting somebody on the first day of college would not go down well. I needed a clever comeback, shove this egotistical asshole back in his place.

"I don't have any desire for STD's, thank you very much. And my name is _Clary_. Not Jolene."

Coming way too close for comfort, he whispered/sang in my ear, "_Flaming locks of auburn hair, with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green_."

I couldn't retain the shiver that ran up my spine. Judging by the smirk on his face he hadn't missed it either. Was he attempting to be complimentary or just trying to elicit a reaction from me? But oh my, he had a beautiful singing voice.

The bell rang. Thank fuck for that. It saved me from further mortification and having to respond to what he said. I began packing away my things, vainly trying to control my raging hormones. He hoisted up his bag, his things already stored away and he pressed his lips a centimeter from my ear again.

"I definitely don't have any STD's Jolene, but if you ever feel the urge to...check; come and find me."

Without sparing me a second glance, he walked straight out of the room.

* * *

Shutting my front door I made a beeline for the kitchen, needing to raid the chocolate stash in the fridge. I was allowed to leave college early because I had a free period, or 'study period' as we were meant to call them. On the bus back I uselessly tried to calm myself down, got off at my stop and power-walked the rest of the way up to my house blasting Sacrilege by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in my ears, and the anger I felt at that frickin Jace guy still hadn't gone. The conceited tool thought that I wanted him, which may have had some truth to it, but you don't go around deliberately using your appealing looks and seductive words to purposely make people uncomfortable.

After finding a Dairy Milk, practically ripping it to shreds in my haste to snarf the entire thing down and traipsing up to my bedroom, I collapsed on my bed, replaying the days events; from the stupid uniform to Maia and her sly gossiping ways about the Year 13's; the Simon dude who seemed pretty genuine, if not a little shy and closed off; Eric's crazy talk of loins; the tasty Jordan, who Maia kept throwing subtle wistful looks towards; the art teacher who was evidently a control freak with more mental problems than your average angry female, who wouldn't let you do so much as breathe if you hadn't asked her permission first, so Maia had obviously been misinformed about her; my lessons seemed easy enough but I supposed that was only because it was the start of the year and the teachers had to act nice... and then there was Jace Lightwood.

Why had this tool triggered such an aggressive emotional reaction from me?

I wasn't used to feeling much at all. I had shut down my emotions long ago, emotions were overrated and just resulted in you being vulnerable and getting hurt in one way or another as I found out the hard way. I had always been fully functioning on my own, self-sufficient, drifting by, getting along just fine, I didn't need some guy invading my life and ruining the system I had going. I was content with my loneliness, wasn't I?

No amount of serenading or lust was going to break down my system, it wasn't worth the risk, especially for a hazardous, potentially harmful sexual encounter with a male who undoubtedly uses women to get what he wants then casts them aside like old news and moves onto the next unfortunate victim. Jace Lightwood was being officially categorised (in my head) as a _No Go Area_.

You hear me brain?

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**Sacrilege by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is brilliant, especially the gospel choir thing near the end. The lyrics have some relevance too if you listen to it/ a hint of foreshadowing. ;) I'm just so sly like that. Hope this is decent enough for you all after the extensive wait. As always, review pleeeease :D **


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